The 80th Anniversary Cake
by SuperAlex64
Summary: Tom and Jerry Kids. On this Valentine's Day, the substitute teacher has a surprise for the first grade class, which may be a challenge for our favorite cat and mouse duo.


**Apparently, on the Tom and Jerry contest on Hanna-Barbera-FC on DA, you can have up to three entries, soooooooo... this is my second one.**

**Fun.**

* * *

It was pretty normal February morning as Mr. Hanna's first grade class all waited for their teacher to come and unlock the door, letting all the rambunctious little characters inside. Little kittens, mice, puppies and birdies, all eager to get inside and start the school day.

Finally, it wasn't long for Mr. Hanna to arrive... except it wasn't Mr. Hanna. Not at all. The class was pretty confused at this random human adult stranger, but he did have to the keys and he did unlock the door. So, he's probably okay, at least that young cat-and-mouse duo(?), Tom Cat and Jerry Mouse seemed to actually agree.

"Alright, class," he said, "Let's head inside."

And so, they did, albeit somewhat reluctantly, all keeping their eyes on him.

"Single file," he reminded them.

And they did so. Quietly. Still keeping their eyes on the stranger. All made it to their way to their desks and quietly stared at him.

With a smile, as he held a whiteboard marker, the older man told them, "Hello, class, your teacher, Mr. Hanna is out sick and-"

Only to be cut off by the duckling, Little Quacker dramatically screaming out, **_"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! WWWWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!"_** which got whole class to turning and staring at him, blankly. Tom was even mentally debating on what to do about this. Jerry did put some effort on trying to calm his ducky friend down, but it wasn't working. Even, the new teacher stared at him, unsure of how to proceed. This went on for a minute until the duckling finally stopped.

"You finished?" the teacher asked Quacker.

"Uh-huh."

"Alright," the human nodded, then turned to the whiteboard, holding up his marker as he went to continue on, "As I was saying: And I'll-", only for Quacker to scream again, which got the class staring at him again, little less impressed than before. Both Tom and Jerry tried this time, but it still didn't work. When Quacker stopped again, the teacher attempted to repeat himself, "As I was saying-" only for Quacker to scream again, but this time, the young kitten Butch in his annoyance slammed his hands on his desk and yelled at the duckling, "If you don't knock it off, I will eat you, I swear!"

Well, that got the little duckling to quiet.

Jerry bristled at what Butch said to his friend. Sure Quacker's screaming was irritating, but still. He glared at Butch, who didn't even acknowledge it. Tom did, but he just looked straight at him, bored.

The teacher only dryly commented, "Please don't eat your classmates." With a sigh, the teacher turned back to the whiteboard and repeated, "As I was saying." Pausing for a moment, he glanced at Quacker, but he didn't do anything so he continued, "I'll be your sub for today," writing his name on the board, "Mr. Barbera."

"Good morning, Mr Barbera," the class automatically called out.

"Thank you, class, any questions?"

This was then when one of the little girl kittens, a little white one wearing some pretty bows, raised her hand, "Mr. Barbera! What about Valentine's Day? I made Mr. Hanna a card!"

There were nods of agreement. Quacker even cried out, "That was why I was freaking out earlier!"

"Oh yes, today is Valentine's day," Mr. Barbera said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, later when we do our Valentines exchange, I can take Mr. Hanna's valentines and put them in his desk drawer. I'm sure he'll be happy to see them when he comes back."

The class all cheered.

"Any more questions and then we'll start class. If you did good, then I'll have a surprise for you."

...

Aside from the fact that Mr. Barbera was not Mr. Hanna, the first grade class was going pretty swimmingly, even for a class as rambunctious as this one. Mr. Barbera was quite proud of himself.

As he had the students read their books, he was glad to teach those kids some new words. Life sure was peaceful in this class and too think people were warning him.

Suddenly, there was jeering laughter and the sounds of things getting frown around. He looked up and saw Tom throwing books at Jerry while the mouse taunted him.

"Hey, what in MGM cartoon studio is going on here?!" Mr Barbera yelled out, surprising everyone out of their not-surprised, including Tom and Jerry themselves. He then got up and got the book that Tom was still holding out of his hand. "Care to tell me?" He then pointed at one of the kitten girls, not the one from earlier, different one, "Toots, right? You'll explain to me."

With a sigh, Toots then stood up and told him, as mater-of-factly, in front of the class, "Tom and Jerry aren't that nice to each other. Just now Jerry was laughing at Tom because the dummy couldn't even read his books right." She even crossed her arms as she said this and kids even snickered.

Tom's feelings were pretty hurt by this. _'I'm not a dummy,' _he thought to himself.

"That's not a very nice thing to say," Mr. Barbera told her, "Apologize."

"Why?" she asked, "My mama even said that he's literally dumb."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, like sure he screams and he laughs or whatever, but the guy never really talks. Like at all, it's weird."

Tom actually wanted to cry then and there and there was Jerry actually shoot him some sympathetic looks. Sure, some of the other kids looked kind of sorry, but Butch and the guys, they still found it funny. Why was he even friends with them again?

And to think, he actually used to kind of, sort of, liked Toots.

It was Toodles Galore, the prettiest kitten in class (It was decided by a jury of their peers), who told her, "I don't talk much either, am I a dummy?"

There was a resounding "NO!" across to room.

"Jerry doesn't really talk much either, is he a dummy?"

Again with the no.

"And so, why is Tom the dummy?" she asked.

"Well, you and Jerry are different," Toots said.

"How?"

'..."

"What was that?" Toodles asked.

Toots then snapped, "Ugh, it just is!"

Mr. Barbera then said, "Toots, apologize."

She did so, but whether or not she actually meant it was another story. Still, Tom took it.

"Now, that that's over with," asked Mr. Barbera, "What was going on here?"

One of the other students then just told him, "Tom and Jerry were being Tom and Jerry."

"What?"

"Tom kept reading his words wrong, Jerry made fun of him and now they fight."

The teacher paused for a moment, then commented, "These two take cat and mouse chase to a whole 'nother level." He then shook his head and told Jerry, "You shouldn't make fun, you all are still learning." To Tom, he said, "You'll get it right eventually, but you shouldn't lash out like that."

The pair actually smiled at him... until the teacher told, "Now apologize, you two."

The pair just looked at each other, disgusted and very reluctant and back at Mr. Barbera.

"Well, go on."

With a sigh, they did so, in their own silent way, of course and with that, they went back to their seats and class went on like usual. Mr, Barbera was content, figuring that something like this won't happen for the rest of the day.

...

**_'RECESS! YES!'_** Jerry practically screamed in his head as he, along with the rest of Mr. Hanna's class, eagerly ran to go play.

"No running!" Mr. Barbera yelled out.

Jerry loved recess. A chance to run, play and make mischief after a hard few hours of class time was just too good to pass up. And a Valentine's Day recess was even better since he was pretty good friends with some kids from other classes so that meant that they could give each other some valentines and candy.

Jerry smiled as that little mouse girl from Mr. Quimby's class Chérie handed him a card with a lollipop.

_'Yes, sir,' _he thought, _'Recess on Valentine's Day is some kind of wonderful.'_ The mouse then turned to look at Tom who was standing a ways away with some of his friends from other classes, also giving and receiving valentines. Guess Tom is somewhat popular, Jerry could sort of understand it. Sort of.

Whatever, Jerry wanted to play, so he's gonna play.

Tom loved recess. A chance to run, play and make mischief after a hard few hours of class time was just too good to pass up. And a Valentine's Day recess was even better since he was pretty good friends with some kids from other classes so that meant that they could give each other some valentines and candy.

_'Recess on Valentine's Day is the best!'_ Tom thought as he turned around and spotted Jerry, standing there with some other kids, also giving and receiving valentines. Guess Jerry is somewhat popular, Tom could sort of understand. Sort of.

Whatever, Tom wanted to play, so he's gonna play.

Mr. Barbera sigh in contentment as he kept an eye on all the kids. He loved his job as a substitute teacher and helping kids learn. And he just knew that this class was filled with good kids. It was strange at times but he knew that things won't go wrong to today. There was that special surprise he told them about that they'd get if they were behaved today. Yes, everything was perfect.

And that was when he heard the screaming.

"What?!" he cried out as he turned and saw Tom and Jerry fighting again as rough as a little kitten and a little mouseling could with a crowd of kids running after them and chanting. This, he knew, he had to stop. So he marched over there and picked them off the ground by the collars, holding them away from each other. "What is going on here?!" he asked.

A kid from another class said, "Tom and Jerry got into another fight."

"AGAIN?!"

"Well, yeah," another shrugged, "Happens all the time."

"Seriously, this is normal...?" asked Mr. Barbera. Numbly, he took the pair to the nurse, who didn't even look surprised.

Mr. Barbera thought to himself,_ 'Second time today. Hopefully, nothing else will go wrong.'_

...

After more class, Mr. Barbera announced that it was time for the Valentines Exchange, which got the whole class cheering. Free candy time... oh, and cards, too. The kids got up began to give away their valentines.

Some, like Toodles's, were homemade while others' were store bought.

Tom was proud of the Supercape cards his mom bought him.

While Mr. Hanna's valentines all ended up in the desk drawer for safe keeping until he comes back, the kids all gave Mr. Barbera some cards that they made with paper and markers during free time. He was so touched.

**"MR. BARBERA!"** Toots yelled out, tears in her eyes, **"NOBODY'S GIVEN ME ANY VALENTINES YET!"**

Butch then yelled back, **"THAT'S 'CUZ NO ONE LIKES YOU! YOU BRAT!"**

"You're the brat!" she, pointing at him, snapped.

"Oh yeah?" the little black kitten asked, "Well, you're a brat times infinity!"

"Me?! Times infinity?!" Toots had her hand on her heart, "Well then, you're a brat times infinity plus one!

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

They argued until Mr. Barbera shouted, "Enough!" To the rest of the class who were just watching the show, he said, "If you have valentines for Toots, then please give them to her."

The kids just looked each other, thought Toodles told them, "Don't look at me, I already gave her a valentine."

"You don't count Toodles," she replied.

Butch then shouted, "See what I mean?"

It was Tom, who gave her a card albeit pretty reluctantly which got others to give to Toots. She didn't bother thanking Tom.  
_  
'Why did I even bother?' _he thought as he went back to his desk. He wanted to look at the card he got from Toodles again. It was then when he noticed that he had one card left, but who...? When he read the name on the card, he was dismayed.

Jerry was proud of the Bat Mouse cards his mom got him. But after a while, he saw that he had one card left, but who...? When he read the name on the card, he was dismayed.

They headed for a empty desk in the middle of the room and arms shaking, reluctantly head out a valentines for the other.

Mr. Barbera noticed this and told them, "Well, go on, give him the valentine. No need to make a production out of it. It don't even have the mean your friends or anything. Just hand the card over and move on with your lives." He would have said more if Toodles didn't suddenly cry out, "Mr. Barbera! Butch keeps pulling at my ribbons."

"Butch!" the teacher shouted, "I'm going to separate you two!"

Tom didn't understand why Butch could be so mean to Toodles. She's nice. She once gave him her juice box to him after Jerry sprayed his at his face. She even thanked him after he gave her a cootie shot. Yeah, Toodles was great. Something then distracted him from his thoughts.

Oh yeah, Jerry was in front of him, waving his Bat Mouse card in his face. He really should give him his valentine, shouldn't he?

Mr. Barbera smiled after he got Toodles and Butch sorted out though he did have separate them. That smile didn't last after he heard some now familiar screaming. With a sigh, he turned around and saw Tom and Jerry in yet another fight. He then counted to ten and walked up to the fighting pair, grabbing them again.

"Enough," he tiredly said, "If you two can't stop fighting for one moment, then I'm going to have to put you two in the corner."

"The corner?" they repeated, so shocked that they actually used their voices for once.

Mr. Barbera raised an eyebrow at the sound of their voices but otherwise was undeterred. He put them in the corner. Separate corners. "And stay put and stay quiet," he said.

...

Lunch eventually rolled around, but Tom and Jerry had to eat in the classroom with Mr. Barbera. They couldn't even play with their friends, not that they wanted to.

The glares, it was the glares that they couldn't handle.

One of the students remembered how they'd get a special surprise if they behaved. And if it was Tom and Jerry that ruined it for them, then who knows what would happen. Some of them even begged Mr. Barbera, but they weren't sure if it worked. Still they weren't very happy.

What a bad Valentine's Day this turned out to be. They were alone, quiet and bored though they did think they deserve it.

Now, as they looked at each other, Tom and Jerry did wonder if there was a way to convince Mr. Barbera to still have the surprise, even without them.

Still, class time went on. Tom and Jerry were still in their corners, doing their assignments while the kids stayed mad at them, especially as the end of the school day was getting closer and closer. They really wanted the surprise. They tried reminded Mr. Barbera about it but he only raised an eyebrow at them.

Eventually, after all the school work was done for the day, the teacher got out some boxes, paper plates and other party stuff. Some students did help with set up, but Mr. Barbera would not let them peak into the biggest box.

"Class, this is your surprise," he smiled as he opened one of the smaller boxes, revealing Valentine's Day cookies.

The class all gasped, wide-eyed.

"And cake!" He gestured at the biggest box. "So, get in line! Single file!"

The class all cheered as they got in line... except for Tom and Jerry. They stayed in their corners and watched the other kids be happy with the surprise. They were happy that the class got that surprise, after all.

Mr. Barbera saw this and called out, "Oy, Tom! Jerry! Get in line!"

The cat and mouse pointed at themselves.

"Yeah, you! Unless you don't want cake!"

With eager smiles, Tom and Jerry ran to the end of the line, happy that they are getting cake too.

But when Mr. Barbera opened the cake box, everyone was left confused.

One of the kids read out loud, "Happy eight-zero annie-berry? What?"

"Happy 80th Anniversary," Mr. Barbera corrected. "This isn't the cake I ordered... Must've been a mix up in the bakery." He then cut a slice, saying, "No matter, I'm sure it'll still be good."

And it was a good cake. And a great surprise. And in the end, a fantastic Valentine's Day for Mr. Hanna's first grade class, even if Mr. Hanna wasn't there.

**The End**

* * *

**So the idea came from me reading up on the rules for the contest and seeing the phrases Tom and Jerry kids and Valentine's Day and I remembered something from when I was a kid. At first, it would have been a drawing depicting the Tom and Jerry Kids versions of Tom and Jerry reluctantly giving each other valentines while the teacher encouraged them. Then I got the idea of Toodles yelling about Butch messing with her ribbons. Considered making it a comic but started getting more ideas. And wow, this happened.**

**The school setting seemed like fun, I mean, Tom and Jerry's been around for like 80 years, so a school setting can't be that weird for them**

**As for the title, had no idea for a good one. Figured I'd name it after something from the end of the thing.**

**Thanks contest, did not think I would actually write anything yet. But got super inspired.**


End file.
